With Hampton Out, Tillman Rushes In

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Before the Giants went to training camp for the 1992 season, then-coach Ray Handley promised Lewis Tillman a real chance to run the ball, to be an integral part of the offense.

But when training camp started, Tillman wasn't there; he was holding out for more money. Handley didn't like that. Handley didn't believe a second-string running back had earned that right, even one who already had waited three years for his turn. By the time Tillman signed and showed up, it didn't matter. Handley had buried the notion of making him part of the offense.

Tillman averaged 76 carries his first three seasons with the Giants. In 1992, he carried the ball six times.

"It was frustrating," Tillman said. "It wasn't the six carries that was frustrating. It was frustrating that I was promised I would play and never got a chance."

Tillman is getting his chance now. And the results, like the continued run-blocking of the Giants offensive line, have been eye-popping.

Even the best running back is lucky to get back to the line of scrimmage if his line is lousy. But Rodney Hampton was running so brilliantly this season that when he limped off the field in the fourth quarter at Buffalo two weeks ago, you had to wonder if the Giants running game was gone with him.

Tillman's performance last week against the Redskins -- 104 yards on 29 carries -- hinted that it wasn't. And his performance Sunday in the Giants 21-10 victory over the Eagles -- 169 yards on 20 carries -- fairly shouted that fact.

He did plenty. Anyone with eyes can see the flash of Tillman's speed in hitting the hole, the way his relentless legs keep churning, the way he bursts forward, not wasting time with lots of lateral dipsy-doodle moves that ultimately don't amount to much. What we have belatedly come to see is that the Giants don't have

one outstanding running back, they have two.

"You guys [media] are going to have fun with that," Simms said. "We've got a running back controversy. I shouldn't joke about that. The way the offense is set up, there's enough carries for both of them."

Hampton, out with knee and ankle injuries, is expected back in time for the game Oct. 31 against the Jets. The way Tillman is playing, you can be sure the Giants won't rush Hampton back. But when Hampton is ready, Tillman said, there won't be any controversy about who the starter is.

"It's Rodney's job," Tillman said. "You cannot lose your job over an injury. Rodney's done a great job. Rodney, he's got everything -- power, finesse. Rodney can stop on a dime, change directions. I can't stop on a dime. I'm the type, when I see [the hole], I just run as fast as I can."

Tillman ran so fast that his 169 yards were the most by a Giants running back since Joe Morris gained 179 against the Cardinals Dec. 14, 1986.

"I wouldn't say I've surprised myself," Tillman said, "but I would never anticipate a day like I had [Sunday]. I was just blessed."

Tillman ran for two touchdowns, the first time he has done that in an NFL game. He averaged 8.5 yards a carry. He rushed for 129 yards in the second half, including a 58-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Surely, he must have dreamed of such a day.

"Not days like this," Tillman said. "I dream of 100-yard days, but not like this. This was one of the best days of my life. Sometimes I watch [other running backs' performances] on TV and say, `Why can't that happen to me?' But it happened to me today."

It was easily the greatest day of Tillman's pro career, but even his brightest moment, the 58-yard run, came to a humbling end. Eagles cornerback Eric Allen tackled him from behind at the Eagles 20.

"I never professed to be a fast guy," Tillman said, with mock seriousness. "The bad thing about it is I got run down from behind, now everybody knows how slow I am."

By the exacting standards of the NFL, slow enough not to be chosen until the fourth round of the 1989 draft, despite having broken Walter Payton's school career rushing records at Jackson (Miss.) State. Running back is the most instinctive of all football positions, the easiest to scout.

How, someone asked Tillman, does he know which way to cut?

"I don't know," Tillman said. "It's just something you're born with."

When you're a running back, you've either got it or you don't. If you do, you're a No. 1 draft choice, as Hampton was. If you're a fourth-round selection, you mark time on special teams, and wait for your chance. At age 27, old for a running back, Lewis Tillman is finally getting his.

Someone asked Tillman what makes him so tough to bring down.

"They just miss," Tillman said. "It's not my being tough, they just miss."

Tillman gets a lot of practice making people miss. He plays on the special teams, a role in which he takes great pride.

"I've seen so many games that are won and lost on special teams," Tillman said. "That's my first job. I know as soon as

Rodney gets back I'll be there."

When Hampton got hurt two weeks ago and the job was thrust upon Tillman, people wondered if he could be successful as the workhorse. Tillman didn't exactly wonder, but he did phone his alma mater's sports information department to find out how many times he had carried the ball as a senior.

Three hundred and eleven times, he was told.

Which is 17 more carries than Tillman has had in his NFL career. Lot of life left in those legs. And even without Rodney Hampton, lot of life left in the Giants offense